The Sunday Survival Buzz Volume 122

On Saturday morning, I put a quick note up on the Backdoor Survival Facebook page. The gist of it was that I was seriously thinking of skipping the Sunday Survival Buzz and goofing off instead. You see, even though I recently returned from vacation, while gone I spent three to four hours a day working on the blog. Crazy nutsy cuckoo, right?

Reader/fan Jim H. wrote back “We prep for a continuum of life. If you don’t live the life, then all the prepping is for very little.” When I read that I knew he was right and it was time I started to take more of my own advice and kick back a little. You see I am really good at doling it out and indeed, I write from personal experience. But sometimes the type A personality takes over and I just can’t stop!

Yesterday was different. I spent a glorious day hiking up to an elevation of about 800 feet where I sat on top of the world and contemplated just being. It was wonderful.

Today’s Buzz is most assuredly one of the most difficult articles I have written. That is because while sitting on top of the world, I realized that it is time for something to change, and that something is that I need to get my weekends (and thus my sanity) back. I want – no I need – to enjoy the outdoors, enjoy my friends, and enjoy the life I strive for beyond prepping. And that means a more refined Sunday Survival Buzz.

What better time to start than now?

THIS WEEK’S PREPS

If you read the article on packing food in Mylar bags, you will know that I sealed 10 pounds of oatmeal and 25 pounds of hard white wheat in Mylar bags. What you did not see is that I repackaged a #10 tin of instant non-fat milk in mason jars.

And therein is the rub. I purchase the large tins because the cost per ounce is much less than the smaller, pantry-sized tins. On the other hand, I can not use an entire #10 tin of powdered milk in a year. (I use the instant non-fat milk in my baking mix). For me, the solution is to repackage what I won’t be using in mason jars. Make sense?

This week I ordered some additional essential oils from Spark Naturals and also field tested one of my emergency radios, the Kaito Voyager V1 crank radio (yes, the shortwave works – I was picking up Mexico of all places).

I also received a couple of those new Black Berkey Primers and plan on testing them in the next week or two. This is a new product that addresses the question “how do I prime and/or back flush my Black Berkey filters when there is no water pressure?”

That about covers it for me this week. Let’s move on to a few announcements.

CURRENT GIVEAWAYS

I have been holding a lot of giveaways lately with a lot more to come – really good stuff, too. That being said, I have also chosen to join in with others on some group giveaways. I want to clear the air on the issue of “Facebook” entries on these giveaways.

When I join a giveaway, I don’t write the rules. It takes a lot of work to put these together and if the organizer wants or requires Facebook entries, so be it. In most cases there is also a “free” entry as well so take the time to look. What I don’t want you to do is send me hate mail because I am promoting Facebook. Enough said, okay?

Of course if you want to follow Backdoor Survival on Facebook that would be great too. We are almost 15,000 strong, fan-wise, and my goal is 20,000. Think we can make it?

SHAMELESS PROMOTION

I hope you will consider voting for me again at Top Prepper Websites. Having a top ranking helps with my advertising (and it does not hurt the ego either)! Did you know you can vote once a day?

THE FINAL WORD

I told you this would be brief and I am keeping my word. Let us leave it at that for now. I am hopeful you will continue to stick around because your are the best and the most loyal website followers on the planet. You are truly are appreciated.

So what about you – what did you do to prep this week? Until next time, remember to make every day a prep day!

Enjoy your next adventure through common sense and thoughtful preparation!Gaye

Related Articles:

Bargain Bin: I have cleared the decks and come up the assortment of items I felt were the most important for my needs when the power is out and we are grid down. Keep in mind that this is my list; yours may be different. Also, for the most part, this is a hunker-down list and not a hit-the-road and bug out list.

Coleman PefectFlow 1-Burner Stove: This Coleman One-burner Propane Stove is an easy-to-use portable stove that should meet almost any camp cooking need. The PerfectFlow regulator provides consistent cooking performance by producing a steady fuel stream, even in cold weather, high altitudes, or when fuel is low. Equipped with one 10,000 BTU burner, this fully adjustable stove will last for 2.2 hours on high or up to nine hours on low.

Coleman Rugged Battery Powered Lantern: This sturdy Coleman has a runtime of up to 28 hours on the low setting and 18 hours on the high setting but does require D cell batteries. Personally, I have both a battery operated and propane lantern. Of course by now you know that I like redundancy with my preps.

Dorcy LED Wireless Motion Sensor Flood Lite: Don’t let the $20 price lead you to think this wireless flood light is wimpy. I have two of these and feel that these lights are worth double the price. Using D-cell batteries, the Dorcy floodlight will light up a dark room or a dark stairway in an instant. I can not recommend these enough.

BIC Disposable Classic Lighters: This six pack of Bic lighters is reasonably priced but check around since these often go on sale locally. BICs just work – every time.

I really love the Provident Pantry Corn Muffin Mix which I cook up as corn bread in my cast iron skillet. Oh my gosh – it is better than anything boxed that I have ever purchased and as good as home made. The best part is that all I had to add was water! Same with the Buttermilk Biscuit Mix.

These are just two of the food storage items that you can purchase at Emergency Essentials. And if you need some recipes? Go to the Food Storage Recipes page of Emergency Essentials for lots of creative (and free) ideas for using the food you have on hand.

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Comments

Not a lot of prepping for me this week. Finally got my vw beetle running (gas/money saver). Have the new henhouse almost finished. Been running the box blade on the tractor, then switched to the brush hog and broke a shear pin, I found I didn’t have a spare and haven’t gotten to town for another one yet. Mostly rediscovered what it’s like working outside in high heat and humidity without air conditioning (except at night when I was in the house). Slight sun burn, should soak in nicely and turn into a tan.
Any time you take a day off we do miss your blog, but also know that you always have a good one comming up!

“We prep for a continuum of life. If you don’t live the life, then all the prepping is for very little.” I am so happy that someone has put this into written words. I had begun to feel that way in the past few months. I have gotten rid of my “porkers” and my goats. I am down to just a few rabbits. I would cry if I had to get rid of my chickens, but, I am getting to where my daughter can come to feed my girls every 3 days, and I don’t think I am asking her for to much. I can load up the feeders and watering containers for 3 days, so now I can go visit distant friends and relatives. Look out Krys, I have an aunt in Middletown.
I know our country is on a slippery slope and I feel there is no rescue, but I am enjoying a new perspective on the coming bad times. I am now living life to where I don’t worry about what is going on in Washington. I’m even thinking of buying a new car to use to go see this good ole US of A one more time.
Thanks Gaye for keeping our heads screwed on correctly.

It would be helpful to me if all the “daily” newsletter subscriptions that I receive would be sent out from Monday-Friday only. We live very busy lives and it would be wonderful to have some “down time” on weekends. It is difficult to keep up with all the Saturday and Sunday newsletter emails.

The newsletters are automatically generated based upon when an article is posted.

On the other hand, at the bottom you will see a link where you can update your profile. You can click on the link and update your profile so that you receive a summary of all of the weekly posts in a single email (currently on Wednesday). Hope that helps.

This has nothing to do with the site subject matter today. But I would love to know where everyone lives. When a person talks about their prepping, it helps to know if they live north where there is snow or live down south where the heat rules. Maybe something like this…..Olivia, Louisiana. If that is too much information, something like…..Olivia, Southern USA.

I always want to know what county and state someone lives in and if they think that their area is a goood place to live when considering prepping. To start, I live in San Benito county in Ca. The cost of living is high. there is no water. On the plus side there is wild game: wild pigs, dear and turkey. there is a lot of farming in the area. If you can get a place in the hills you should be ok ( that is if you can sink a really deep well ) and get solor.

Gayle, Just a big shout-out for what you do for all of us! Of course you need your weekends! Even the Lord had a full days rest and wants us to follow his example:) Burn out is the last thing all your followers want so please never fell guilty when you need the weekend to refuel. Everyone will benefit…win-win for all. Happy prepping and thanks for keeping us going!

I agree, time out is good! My sister has been here for the month of June to be with my mom.So I was able to drive over the mountain to visit with my daughter and granddaughter and than fly to Montana to visit my son and 4 more granddaughters and than return to babysit for my daughter in law and grandson & granddaughter. Lot of toddler and older children time. I came home to my garden thriving. I also have been cooking in my HERC oven. Love It! I am going to go find a nonsense book to read and chill out.

Oh one other thing, I work in a store. I saw a Hispanic mother with her 3 children. they were getting fishing lures. I asked the kids if they too went fishing, they said yes. Their mother did not speak English. Anyway I then asked the kids if they also cleaned the fish. The little boy said yes and started to show me with his hands how to scale the fish. “Gut the fish too,” I ask, again another yes from the kids. Then the oldest of the kids ( 7 maybe ) tells me ” my Dad says we need to know how to do things incase somethings happens.” I was a little surprised to hear that their father wants them to learn how to find food ‘Just in case,’ I was surprised because they were not born in the US. I think of prepparing as a US thing.

Hello, first time poster and really enjoying Backdoor Survival. I wanted to order essential oils from Amazon but found that they carry very little Spark Naturals, so I need to go to Spark Naturals direct. I do not live in the U.S. and not all manufacturers sent overseas, if they do it is still a bit of a gam le. I will start with a small order and see how it works out. Thank you for all the info you provide.

Over at ericpetersautos.com a fella by the name of Tor spelled out a rant about the same as yours. Living life, that sort of thing. I intended to cross-link them but I’ve run out of steam for the night.
I live in cowshit country.
There ain’t no vistas here like you have.
The thrill of going out into a cornfield at midnight wears thin after awhile.
….I got no point other than to say you have nice vistas, and I’d much prefer you skimped on your weekday blog posts and kept up this Sunday one.

Not sure where you are by the cows, but I sure remember living on the plains of the US, away from cities and just watching the stars. You mean you get tired of that?! I miss that now that I live in town and the lights cancel out the stars and all. And what about the time to just sit and watch the clouds and nature? Ah well, I guess you appreciate it more when it’s not there. No offense.

Oh yeah, I forgot to add: I learned a lot about lanterns this week. I bought some at garage sales this past Spring and – Then – I did some reading about them.
That’s the opposite of the way you’re supposed to do it.
But now, I know a Lot about lanterns… and how they work… and how they don’t work.

…And NOW I know How Not to get ripped off.. Ha! {Inside joke if you know about how lanterns go bad.]

Hint: if fuel is stored in them beyond two weeks a lacquer can build up blocking an intake tube, which means the intake tube needs to be replaced, which means,…. it might be a pile of junk.

Love that view. It’s been decades since I’ve been to those islands. Yes, there is a peace just sitting atop and allowing your mind to go wherever. Do it often.
That said, I decided I didn’t want to learn how to beekeep (though I know it’s important), I’m not a great gardener, so I’m learning more about foraging what’s local that most people just pass over or treat as weeds; I don’t want to grow/raise chickens nor most livestock (too much at my age); but providing protein will only get more expensive, so the thought came and I’ve been investigating raising guinea pigs for meat. May surprise many, but I come from people of the earth who know everything is here for a reason so I figured why not?
For those interested: http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.echocommunity.org/resource/collection/E66CDFDB-0A0D-4DDE-8AB1-74D9D8C3EDD4/GuineaPigs.pdf

I love the pictures- very flat here in the midwest, no views like that. I had decided to slow it down, too, since this year’s home schooling has finally ended. Everyone needs a break, but my mind is still canning!

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MEET GAYE

I'm Gaye, just an ordinary gal trying to make sense of our changing world. I am addicted to prepping, DIY projects, adult coloring books, and ballroom dancing. I live what I call a strategic life and believe you should too. Everyone needs to prepare for the worst and live for the best. Won't you join me?

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